Nut tapping machine having releasable tap holding means to discharge tapped nuts therefrom



April 1, 1958 Filed March 12, 1951 l9 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

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NUT TAPPING MACHINE HAVING RELEA. LE TAP I HOLDI NG MEANS TO DISCHTAPPED NUTS THEREFR Filed March 12, 1951 v 19 Sheets-Sheet 2\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\A A H a w INVENTOR. GUY 0. GON/VEI? NUT TAPPING MACHINE HAVING RELEASABLE TAP HOLDING MEANS TO DISCHARGE TAPPED NUTSTHEREFROM INVENTOR. GUY 0. CON/VER April 1, 1958 l9 Sheets-Sheet 4 FiledMarch 12, 1951 INVENTOR.

GU) 0. com/v51? BY 7 /'UI Aprll 1, 1958 G. o. CONNER 2,828,492

NUT TAPPING MACHINE HAVING RELEASABLE TAP HOLDING MEANS TO DISCHARGETAPPED NUTS THEREFROM Filed March 12, 1951 l9 Sheets-Sheet 5 A1311] 1,1958 G. o. CONNER NUT TAPPING MACHINE HAVING RELEASABLE TAP HOLDINGMEANS TO DISCHARGE TAPPED NUTS THEREFROM l9 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed March12, 1951 April 1958 G o ICONNER 2,828,492

NUT TAPPING MACHINE HAVING RELEASABLE TAP HOLDING MEANS TO DISCHARGETAPPED NUTS THEREFROM Filed March 12, 1951 19 Sheets-Sheet '7 Q ZZO FIG.7 2.02.

4 INVENTOR. GUY 0. CONNER .0. Ha. 7A

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UT TAPPING MACHINE HAVING RELEASABLE TAP HOLDING MEANS TO DISCHARGETAPPED NUTS THEREFROM Filed March 12,1951 l9 Sheets-Sheet 8 INVENTOR.

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Apn] 1, 1958 G. o. CONNER NUT TAPPING MACHINE HAVING RELEASABLE TAPHOLDING MEANS TO DISCHARGE TAPPED NUTS THEREFROM Filed March 12,1951

l9 Sheets-Sheet 9 INVENTOR. 60) 0. GOA/IVER Apnl l, 1958 G. o. CONNER2,828,492

NUT TAPPING MACHINE HAVING RELEASABLE TAP HOLDING MEANS TO DISCHARGETAPPED NUTS THEREFROM Filed Majrch 12, 1951 19 Sheets-Sheet 11 F IINVENTOR- GUY 0. CON/VER Aprll 1958 G. o. CONNER NUT TAPPING MACHINEHAVING RELEASABLE TAP HOLDING MEANS TO DISCHARGE TAPPED NUTS THEREFROM19 Sheets-Sheet 12 Filed March 12, 1951 mmvrox. GUY Q CON/VER I9. ,0.(A: null A ril 1, 1958 Filed March 12, 1951 G O. CONNER NUT TAPPINGMACHINE HAVING RELEASABLE TAP HOLDING MEANS TO DISCHARGE TAPPED NUTSTHEREFROM l9 Sheets-Sheet 15 INVENTOR. GUY 0. CON/YER Apnl 1, 1958 G, o.CQNNER 2,828,492

NUT TAPPING MACHINE HAVING RELEASABLE TAP HOLDING MEANS TO DISCHARGETAPPED NUTS THEREFROM Filed March 12, 1951 v 19 Sheets-Sheet 14INVENTOR. 6U) 0. CON/VB? ,IWW 12 A? Aprll 1958 G. o. CONNER v NUTTAPPING MACHINE HAVING RELEASABLE TAP HOLDING MEANS TO DISCHARGE TAPPEDNUTS THEREFROM Filed March 12,- 1951 19 Sheets-Sheet 15 3/8 I 3 i L'\ 3555 Fla/9 INVENTOR. 357 GUY 0. CON/V67? April 1, 1958 G. o. CONNER NUTTAPPING MACHINE HAVING RELEASABLE TAP HOLDING MEANS TO DISCHARGE TAPPEDNUTS THEREFROM 19 Sheets$heet 16 Filed March 12, 1951 m NW NW 6Q mw w. 0mummoua X 52; mjQzEm w Oh Omn 00m Ohm OGN EN 00 On- ON 0m 0w On Oh %6%Nu m w H V N o s 7 0% b 1 3 mm N a .3%

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April 1, 1958 e. o. CONNER 2,828,492

NUT TAPPING MACHINE HAVING RELEASABLE TA HOLDING MEANS TO DISCHARGETAPPED NUTS THEREFROM 6U) 0. CO/V/VER United States Patent NUT TAPPINGMACHINE HAVING RELEASABLE TAP HOLDING MEANS TO DISCHARGE TAPPED NUTSTHEREFROM Guy 0. Conner, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, assignor to RepublicSteel Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of New JerseyApplication March 12, 1951, Serial No. 215,131

13 Claims. (Cl. -134) This invention pertains to machine tools forforming metal and more particularly to a machine adapted for high speedperformance of a variety of operations such as spinning, tapping,drilling or the like. The invention has a particular utility in thetapping or threading of nuts,

and other operations similar to these.

Current practice in the threading of nuts utilizes a machine in whichthe tapping tool is bent at the end opposite the working end and isloosely disposed in a complementary recess in the machine. Onto this thenuts :are threaded, while the tap is prevented from rotating and is heldagainst longitudinal motion by the bent end. As the nuts are finished,they slide along the tool, around the bent end and off into areceptacle. The cost of these taps is considerable, but other moreserious disadvantages are also present. Because of the looseness of thetool in its recess, it has heretofore been virtually impossible to get afit closer than class 1 or 2 on a nut produced by such methods. Thedevice also is relatively slow and the finish on the threads poor,compared to that on the bolts onto which the nuts are to be threaded.

Many other devices have been proposed for this type of work. In some,the tap was driven in and then reversed to recover the tool. This wasexpensive both in time and in tool wear, since the tool passed throughthe workpiece twice for one operation. Other devices used a rotatinghead having a plurality of vertical spindles. In these, the tap would bedriven through the nut, drop into a cup and then be picked up again bythe spindle as the nut was moved out of the way. These, too, were notentirely satisfactory, partly because the tap could not be held tightlyenough to produce an accurate thread.

With the machine of my invention, most of the disadvantages of prior artmachines are avoided. In addition, great savings are possible. As anexample, a single machine made according to my invention may be made toproduce as many nuts in a given time as from 10 to of present daymachines. Moreover, by such a device, a single operator may tend eachmachine where under present day conditions an operator customarily tendstwo machines. Thus, for a unit labor cost, a machine built according tomy invention will produce from five to ten times as many nuts. Furthersavings are possible in floor space, where my machine requires about thesame space as present day machines, and in power. This latter savingamounts to nearly fifty percent based on tests of an eight spindlemachine built according to my invention. The total effect of thesesavings makes possible extremely fast production of the product of themachine at low cost, both in direct cost of the product and in overhead.

In addition to lessened cost, the quality of the product is greatlyimproved. Where with present day machines nut threads having a fit ofclass 1 or 2 are ordinarily produced and a class 3 fit is rare; with amachine of my invention, nuts of class 4 fit may easily be produced, andclass 5 fits are not uncommon. In order to achieve this sort of fit, itis obvious that no tearing of metal nor looseness of parts can beallowed. These conditions also 2,828,492 Patented Apr. 1, 1958 ice makepossible a much'better finish on the surface of the threads with theresultant advantages of increased strength machine therefore eliminatesall play in the spindles,

tools and the workpiece. A novel system for keeping the machine free ofmetal chips and the like is also provided.

A more complete understanding of the device of the invention, and theinvention itself, may be had by reference to the following descriptionand drawings which form a part of this specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of the machine with the coversremoved;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view from the right hand side of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal medial sectional view through the machine;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view along line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 6-6 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6A is a side elevational viewof the lateral stripper device removedfrom the machine;

Fig. 6B is an edge plan view of the device of Fig. 6A;

Fig. 7 is a detailed elevational view of the injector mechanism from thesame side as Fig. 5 and rotated approximately 45 degrees to an uprightposition, some of the parts having been removed to show underlyingparts;

Fig. 7A is an elevational view of the feeder piece 200 removed from itssurroundings and drawn to a reduced scale;

Fig. 8 is a detailed view of the inlet of the injector with the coverremoved;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on line 9-9 of Fig. 7, drawn to anenlarged scale;

Fig. 10 is an enlarged detailed view of a portion of Fig. 6;

Fig. 11 is a sectional view along line 11-11 of Fig. 10;

Fig. 12 is a sectional view along line 12-12 of Fig. 10;

Fig. 13 is a radial sectional view through the centerline of the clampmechanism;

Fig. 14 is a View of the discharge mechanism from the periphery of thework-holding mechanism on line 14-14 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 15 is an enlarged sectional view of the spindle drive mechanism;

Fig. 16 is a partially exploded, end-elevational view of two of thefollower blocks and a portion of 'the drum cam showing the method ofremoval of the cam segments;

Fig. 17 is a sectional view on the vertical centerline of the head withan alternative mounting;

Fig. 18 is an end elevational view of the head mounted as in Fig. 17;

Fig. 19 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 17 showing the tool shankin a partly retracted position;

Fig. 20 is an enlarged elevational view of thetool alone;

Fig. 21 is an enlarged sectional view of the tool along line 21-21 ofFig. 20;

Fig. 22is a graph showing the shape of the cams at correspondinglocations;

